The Blog

Who doesn’t love perennials? They grace your garden with beautiful blooms and foliage and year after year they pop back up adding color, structure and flowers to your garden. We took a poll of our perennial experts and put together a list of their favorite perennials.

Check out what they had to say…

Stephanie Phillips, McDonald Garden Center in Virginia Beach

It’s hard to narrow it down to just one, so I’m giving you my top three!

Have you ever thought about growing a pizza? You may not be able to grow a plant with pizzas ready to pluck from the vine, but you can grow a garden with pizza ingredients. A pizza garden can be any size or shape, and can easily be grown in containers on a sunny patio or deck, and it’s a fun project for the whole family. It’s also a great way to get children outdoors and motivated to plant and eat veggies.

Here are a few staples to include in your pizza garden but remember, the possibilities are endless so be creative and plant your favorite toppings.

Growing your own tomatoes pays huge dividends and it's pretty easy. You can enjoy a homegrown harvest right from your own yard and tomatoes are an easy way to be a backyard farmer. And, best of all homegrown tomatoes taste better than store bought varieties.

To get started, simply choose a few of your favorite tomato varieties or identify how you might want to use the tomatoes. We offer more than 30 different types, so there is surely a palette-pleasing tomato for you.

Here's our favorite tomatoes:

Whether you're dreaming up a brand new outdoor living space or you're thinking about revamping an existing one, planning ahead is essential to creating a patio that's both beautiful and functional.

Here are some things to consider when planning a patio:

Function - Decide whether your patio will be a gathering place or a getaway space. Are you going to throw a lot of parties outside, use it as a family space, or would you prefer a small, quiet, private patio just big enough for a couple of chairs and a table?

Vertical gardens are all the rage and we are seeing them everywhere made from recycled pallets. From Pinterest to HGTV to all the decorating magazines including Better Homes and Gardens and Southern Living, pallet gardens are everywhere!